Frequently asked questions about Sway – Admin Help

Sway is an Office 365 app that helps you and your colleagues express ideas using an interactive, web-based canvas. Sway's design engine helps you quickly and easily produce professional, interactive, and visually appealing designs from images, text, documents, videos, maps, and more. You can also modify the results to get the unique look and feel you want. Sway makes your creation look great in any browser, on any screen, and you can share it with your customers and colleagues by simply sending a link.

What admin controls are there for Sway?

As an admin, you have control over how Sways are created and viewed in your organization. You can enable or disable Sway for individual users, allow or block what content sources can be in a Sway, enable or disable external sharing of Sway for people in your organization, and enable or disable people and security-group look-up for people in your organization.

What's the difference between the consumer version of Sway and Sway for Office 365?

The Sway creation experience looks and feels the same whether you’re logged in with a Microsoft account or an Office 365 work or school account. Sway is still your digital design assistant no matter how you use it. However, there are some differences including premium features when you log in with an Office 365 work or school account:

Content sources in the Insert tab are tailored for Office 365 commercial users.

By default, Sways can only be viewed by others in your organization.

Built-in sharing options are scoped for Office 365 commercial use.

Office 365 global admins can control turning Sway on or off for individual users, as well as disable external sharing of Sway for people in the organization.

How does my Office 365 subscription and license work with Sway?

Sway is available in many plans for Office 365. Check out the plans and license info at Available licenses for Office 365 Sway. For Sway to be available to a user, a license with Sway must be assigned to that user and the Sway service plan must be enabled under that license.

Where is data stored in Sway?

Sway data is stored in Azure within United States data centers and is working to support data centers worldwide. Sways do not count against your OneDrive for Business storage quota.

Where is data stored in Sway if I access Sway through another online service?

Even if you access Sway through another online service, the data that you provide through your use of Sway is still stored in Azure within the United States.

What compliance category does Sway meet?

How does Sway securely store and use my data?

As a customer of Office 365, you own and control your data. Microsoft doesn't use your data for anything other than providing you with the service that you have subscribed for. As a service provider, we do not scan your email, documents, or Sways for advertising or non-service related purposes. Check out more info on our trust and security related information at the Office 365 Trust Center. Sway follows the same guidance/principles as the Office 365 Trust Center.

Does Sway support encryption of data?

Sway currently supports encryption in flight via https. Encryption at rest is currently supported for Sways created or edited after December 7, 2017. Any Sways created before this date or not edited since this date do not currently support encryption at rest.

Does Sway support Information Protection features like eDiscovery and DLP?

Sway currently doesn't support eDiscovery or DLP.

What privacy controls are in Sway?

Privacy controls are enabled by default for all customers of Sway and you can turn off and on privacy impacting features to meet the needs of your organization. Sway sets the default sharing level for all new Sways to My Organization. This ensures viewers must be logged in with credentials from your organization to view the Sway. Admins can additionally disable external sharing at the organizational level, so that users can only share Sways they create with people in the organization. Check out Admin settings for Sway.

Where can I get support information and learn more about Sway?

You can find support info about Sway at Office support. You can also find additional help in the Office 365 community. Check out the Microsoft knowledge base article on the Sway tile still appearing on the App Launcher even after its disabled.